March 15 2008 
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Just how good is Joan Guzman?
Just how good is Joan Guzman?
Rory Dowd
11/16/2007 - San Francisco
It’s a fair question.
Joan Guzman (27-0, 17 KOs) will attempt to answer it this Saturday night on HBO’s Boxing After Dark when he takes on the dangerous Humberto Soto (43-5-2, 27 KOs) at the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. If Guzman can hold onto his WBO super featherweight title, the answer to the title question will be: very good.
Humberto Soto is a tough test of Guzman’s abilities. Soto, of Mexico, is undefeated in 5 years and 21 fights. After a shaky start, he seems to have found himself and “La Zorrita” has been regularly knocking out bigger men of recent.
Guzman is just plain undefeated. He started his career as a puncher, although that was at a smaller weight. Down in the 122-pound weight class, he was known as “Little Tyson,” knocking out 17 of his first 21 opponents. He was successful in winning the WBO super bantamweight title against then undefeated Fabio Daniel Oliva. He might be mixing it up with the likes of Marquez or Vazquez right now if he hadn’t gotten too big for the division.
He made a short stop at featherweight but failed to get troubled Scotsman Scott Harrison to put his belt on the line, before moving up to 130 pound division, joining superstars Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera. His first test there was a dominant victory over veteran Javier Jauregui. Guzman cruised to win over ten rounds, but a combination of hand problems and bigger opposition led him to put little pop into his punch.
His next fight was far tougher, and he punched with full force. Eagerly awaited, Guzman’s fight with Jorge Barrios of Argentina lived up to the hype. In an exciting contest, Guzman squeaked by Barrios in a split decision. Although Guzman boxed superbly at times, he took long rests between attacks, allowing Barrios to make a case for himself on the cards. If Barrios had not lost a point for low blows, the fight would have been a draw.
Though Guzman landed the sharper punches throughout the night, Barrios won over a lot of the fans with his more aggressive style. Unlike when he was a junior featherweight, Guzman was more of a boxer. His nickname changed with his style: he’s now known as the “Sycuan Warrior” (taking his name from his promoters).
So where does the Sycuan Warrior stand at 130? Since he’s arrived two of the superstars, Barrera and Morales have retired. Still, 130 pounds is one of the deepest divisions in the sport. In addition to Soto, who exploded on the scene with his upset of Rocky Juarez in August 2005, there are superstars Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.
Marquez might be a good target for Guzman. He’s getting old, marking up in every fight and fighting less cautiously than he has in the past.
Pacquiao is of course the cash cow that guarantees the junior lightweight division a spotlight. If Guzman could fight and defeat the Filipino superstar, he would prove himself the best in the division as well as a pound for pound elite fighter.
There’s a good chance Pacquiao and Marquez will be too busy settling a score with each other to worry about up and comer Guzman.
Even forgetting about those two, the division has a lot of depth. Guzman could give Barrios a rematch. There’s also WBA champion Edwin Valero, who has won all 22 of his fights by knockout (but can’t fight in America due to head injuries sustained in a motorbike accident). That would be a fantastic matchup of young undefeated champions, though Guzman would have to travel for that one (Valero is based in Japan).
It is undeniable that there are great matchups for Joan Guzman. To get there he has to get by the excellent Soto, in this battle of underrated talents.
Soto is no joke. He will stand a little bit taller than Guzman, at 5’7 ½. He’s also a strong junior lightweight, who has knocked out many super feathers and even lightweights. Guzman has not had a knockout in four years.
He’s not fought since a December 2006 decision over Antonio Davis, whereas Soto has fought three times (three knockouts) including a tune up last September. He’s in the prime of his life at 27 and has maintained fighting shape throughout the year.
At 31 and at eight pounds over his original weight, it is not going to get any easier for Guzman whose stamina has looked a bit questionable. He’ll have to put up the fight of his life this weekend.
On his website, Guzman states, “I am a slick boxer with good movement, good defense, speed and excellent power.” He definitely has all these qualities, but Soto is a solid boxer with good movement, speed and power as well. If Guzman has to try to get inside, he might find himself attacked from all angles, and brutalized with uppercuts like Olympic silver medallist Rocky Juarez did.
This is an excellent test of how good Guzman is. If he beats Humberto Soto, he will be ready to challenge his fellow champions or one of the other up-and-comers. If he doesn’t, the answer to the title question will be maybe he wasn’t that good for the highest level.
For his part Guzman is confident of victory. On his official website he says “I\'ll beat them all. It\'s time for America and the world to discover Joan Guzman.”
Sounds good to me.
Rory Dowd
11/16/2007 - San Francisco
It’s a fair question.
Joan Guzman (27-0, 17 KOs) will attempt to answer it this Saturday night on HBO’s Boxing After Dark when he takes on the dangerous Humberto Soto (43-5-2, 27 KOs) at the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. If Guzman can hold onto his WBO super featherweight title, the answer to the title question will be: very good.
Humberto Soto is a tough test of Guzman’s abilities. Soto, of Mexico, is undefeated in 5 years and 21 fights. After a shaky start, he seems to have found himself and “La Zorrita” has been regularly knocking out bigger men of recent.
Guzman is just plain undefeated. He started his career as a puncher, although that was at a smaller weight. Down in the 122-pound weight class, he was known as “Little Tyson,” knocking out 17 of his first 21 opponents. He was successful in winning the WBO super bantamweight title against then undefeated Fabio Daniel Oliva. He might be mixing it up with the likes of Marquez or Vazquez right now if he hadn’t gotten too big for the division.
He made a short stop at featherweight but failed to get troubled Scotsman Scott Harrison to put his belt on the line, before moving up to 130 pound division, joining superstars Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera. His first test there was a dominant victory over veteran Javier Jauregui. Guzman cruised to win over ten rounds, but a combination of hand problems and bigger opposition led him to put little pop into his punch.
His next fight was far tougher, and he punched with full force. Eagerly awaited, Guzman’s fight with Jorge Barrios of Argentina lived up to the hype. In an exciting contest, Guzman squeaked by Barrios in a split decision. Although Guzman boxed superbly at times, he took long rests between attacks, allowing Barrios to make a case for himself on the cards. If Barrios had not lost a point for low blows, the fight would have been a draw.
Though Guzman landed the sharper punches throughout the night, Barrios won over a lot of the fans with his more aggressive style. Unlike when he was a junior featherweight, Guzman was more of a boxer. His nickname changed with his style: he’s now known as the “Sycuan Warrior” (taking his name from his promoters).
So where does the Sycuan Warrior stand at 130? Since he’s arrived two of the superstars, Barrera and Morales have retired. Still, 130 pounds is one of the deepest divisions in the sport. In addition to Soto, who exploded on the scene with his upset of Rocky Juarez in August 2005, there are superstars Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.
Marquez might be a good target for Guzman. He’s getting old, marking up in every fight and fighting less cautiously than he has in the past.
Pacquiao is of course the cash cow that guarantees the junior lightweight division a spotlight. If Guzman could fight and defeat the Filipino superstar, he would prove himself the best in the division as well as a pound for pound elite fighter.
There’s a good chance Pacquiao and Marquez will be too busy settling a score with each other to worry about up and comer Guzman.
Even forgetting about those two, the division has a lot of depth. Guzman could give Barrios a rematch. There’s also WBA champion Edwin Valero, who has won all 22 of his fights by knockout (but can’t fight in America due to head injuries sustained in a motorbike accident). That would be a fantastic matchup of young undefeated champions, though Guzman would have to travel for that one (Valero is based in Japan).
It is undeniable that there are great matchups for Joan Guzman. To get there he has to get by the excellent Soto, in this battle of underrated talents.
Soto is no joke. He will stand a little bit taller than Guzman, at 5’7 ½. He’s also a strong junior lightweight, who has knocked out many super feathers and even lightweights. Guzman has not had a knockout in four years.
He’s not fought since a December 2006 decision over Antonio Davis, whereas Soto has fought three times (three knockouts) including a tune up last September. He’s in the prime of his life at 27 and has maintained fighting shape throughout the year.
At 31 and at eight pounds over his original weight, it is not going to get any easier for Guzman whose stamina has looked a bit questionable. He’ll have to put up the fight of his life this weekend.
On his website, Guzman states, “I am a slick boxer with good movement, good defense, speed and excellent power.” He definitely has all these qualities, but Soto is a solid boxer with good movement, speed and power as well. If Guzman has to try to get inside, he might find himself attacked from all angles, and brutalized with uppercuts like Olympic silver medallist Rocky Juarez did.
This is an excellent test of how good Guzman is. If he beats Humberto Soto, he will be ready to challenge his fellow champions or one of the other up-and-comers. If he doesn’t, the answer to the title question will be maybe he wasn’t that good for the highest level.
For his part Guzman is confident of victory. On his official website he says “I\'ll beat them all. It\'s time for America and the world to discover Joan Guzman.”
Sounds good to me.
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